Hanging in the tree
by Gh0zt1y-g1itch
Summary: leo stands alone in the hangmans knot in order to restore peace between the two camps. Best to listen to hanging in the tree from mockingjay. Will have a good and bad end.
1. For peace

Hanging in the tree

Are you, are you, coming to the tree, where they strung up a man who murdered three.

Leo stood alone before the rope he would be hung from. How did he get here? One name. Octavian. The kid was good at bringing a war. The Romans saw this as the only way to forgive the Greeks and make peace. Much to the displeasure of his friends and calypso, he solemnly agreed. So here he stood.

Strange things did happen here, no stranger would it be, if we met at midnight in the hanging tree.

Calypso stood in the middle of the crowed, rain pouring off her shoulders. How could they? How could they hang the man who saved them? How could they hang the man that was the most brilliant mind for centuries? It hurt so bad, to see Octavian preaching to the crowed about why leo was so terrible, how he fired on new Rome. He didn't, however, mention that leo had agreed to this only for the peace of the two camps. No, only how his firing killed three good men.

Are you, are you, coming to the tree, where the dead man calls for his love to flee.

Jason stood next to piper in the the rain. He didn't know what stung more, the rain, or the tears rolling down his face. No matter how he begged, and demanded, and prayed, it was all for naught. Leo stood with shackles around his wrists, his eyes downcast, his face void of emotion. Not sad nor happy. No, he looked tired. Tired of life or war, Jason didn't know what, but whatever it was, it made leo change.

Strange things did happen here, no stranger would it be. If we met at midnight in the hanging tree.

Piper tried to stand tall, yet however straighter her back was, it still felt bent. She stood next to hazel and Jason. Nobody looked like they did, yet they looked the same as before they left for the quest. In all the eyes of her friends she didn't see something. She remembered all the times with leo in which he saved them and always used a snarky remark to bring them all in to roll there eyes and laugh. All the times he was smart and stoic, always holding that smile. That smile. That's what there eyes lacked. Leo wasn't smiling, and with the lack of his smile, now everyone lacked a soul. With that rope went everyone's shattered soul and shattered heart.

Are you, are you, coming to the tree, where i told you to run, so that we'd both be free.

Hazel, next to frank and piper, frowned deeply with her eyes shut tightly and her teeth gritted. First Sammy, and now leo? Oh how fate hated that family. Everything that happened to them in the end was always horrible. Sammy, she only had to blink and he was gone. Leo's mother was taken by his own flame. And finally, leo. About to be taken by war. She hated it. War had to ruin everything. Leo was dying because of a war, to stop future wars. His death was to mark peace, but it all came down to hate in the end. And right at this moment, there was one person she hated over all. In this moment, that person was feeding the fire that was roman rage.

Strange things did happen here, no stranger would it be, if we met at midnight in the hanging tree.

Frank could not hold his tears in either. No matter how hard the big guy cried, it just kept coming. All his tears made the rain jealous. He was the son of the God of war. How ironic was that. Yet here he was, crying over the man he was pretty sure was hitting on hazel. There last few weeks were both the best and worst parts of his life. Leo and him became good friends. The flame proof bag he gave frank helped this friendship as well. That was ironic as well. Leo gave him the key to staying alive, and now was about to die because his friends hadn't tried hard enough to convince him otherwise.

Are you, are you, coming to the tree, wear a necklace of rope side by side with me.

Annabeth didn't know leo that well, but she did know one thing. Leo was wonderful. He was what kept everyone from losing there mind. He was what made them smile. He was what kept everyone from killing one another. Oh, yes, he was wonderful. He who blamed himself for the fall, and he who blamed himself for killing his own mother. He had a harder life than most and still, the reason for his death was not suicide, but because of a war. Possession spirits were one of annabeths only fears. Next to spiders of course. Leo worried so much for the wellbeing of his friends, no, family. Something he had not had until he arrived at camp. He was genuinely happy about being there with his siblings and his friends, and here he was, dying in front of them.

Strange things did happen here, no stranger would it be, if we met at midnight in the hanging tree.

Percy was dry. All his tears stale on his face. Man, leo didn't deserve this. He was to happy, to light hearted, and too carefree to be hung. It didn't fit. Percy never really saw leo fit in with anyone, not even his brothers and sisters. He always stood out, but it was only in the best way. It never occurred to Percy that this might happen. Mainly because it was ridiculous to kill one another for the sake of peace. In what mind was this right? In what world was this that they would kill a fifteen year old? And for what? Peace? Being a demigod meant that piece was only seen in dreams. And even then it was rare to see.

Strange things did happen here, no stranger would it be, if we met at midight, in. The hanging tree.

Finally, it was time. Leo stepped up to the stool and stepped on. Octavian walked up with a malicious smile, and placed a bag over Leo's head and tightened the rope around his neck. More tears flowed, lightning striking off in the distance. Octavian took his time walking over to the lever. Calypso, now balling, was being comforted by an also crying piper. The rain fell hard against there skin, but the tears fell harder. Octavian grabbed the lever, and pulled.


	2. Good end

Hanging in the tree

Good end

This was going to be hard to pull off. He had seen Sherlock Holmes do this, so how hard could it be? You know, other than the fact that there was no way he could pay off Octavian To hook the metal piece in the rope. No matter. One mechanism later, and he had a self attaching metal hook. He was set. All that was left to do was die.

Will was told that leo wanted him to embalm him. Why? Because he made the most sense to do the embalming. Leo had approached him the other day with a plan. And a good one. This one would fool the gods. Well, probably not, but it was the thought that counts. This would work. And it would work well. Octavian be damned.

This was it. It was time for the hanging. Calypso stood there, tears pooring off as her lover hung there. 'Dead'. Just dangling. Octavian poked at the body with a broken off stick, making sure he was dead. It was three minutes before they had actually decided to cut the body down. But as Leo's body slowly spun, she caught the small gleam of metal at the base of the body. She looked at Leo's friends. None of them had seemed to notice.

A few weeks later the ceremony was to be held. Even though all his friends complained to will to have an open casket, he had declined saying it was Leo's last wish. That stopped the arguing. at the beginning of the ceremony, the casket was et out for people to say there prayers. When calypso went up to he casket, she asked everyone to leave for a minute, putting on her best remorseful face. Everyone simply nodded, respecting the fact that she didn't want to be seen broken. Once everyone had left, calypso walked up to the casket and pried the lid open a little. Smiling, she wedged the coffin closed again and walked out, claiming she couldn't bare the sadness anymore. She walked quickly, with purpose. Upon reaching her destination, she attempted to open the door to bunker nine, but for some reason, was unsuccessful. She took a step back and simply knocked. The door to bunker 9 opened suddenly, and she stepped in. The first thing she noticed was a new and improved festus. Looking around for the object of her affections, she found a childish drawing of a store. The name of said store was 'Leo's and calypso's diner of mechanical monsters.' A work in progress. Of to the side of the bunker, up on the rafter she heard him.

"Ready to go sunshine?"


	3. Bad end

Hanging in the tree

Bad end

If there was any day that was just as sad, calypso didn't remember. The day he died was the worst day she could have imagined. Of course, the Romans gave the Greeks a few weeks to grieve his death and do a proper burial. The funeral had an open casket, which didn't help anything. When calypso first walked up to the casket, the first detail she noticed was the rope burn. Around his neck was embedded with markings of when he was inevitably hung. The second thing she noticed was the unhappy look he had held. No more smiles. No more jokes. This time he really did die. It wasn't one of those times he was just joking about it. This was the end. The end of leo Valdez.

For hazel, the funeral was nice and everything went well. Leo's dad had showed up briefly to show tears had spilled from his eyes and into his beard. However, the fact of Leo's death seemed off to her. Not that it was faked, it just felt wrong. Leo shouldn't have died so young. Hazel had died once. It wasn't something she was looking forward to repeating. Everyone dies, but he shouldn't have. There was so much more he could have done. So much more she knew for a fact that he wanted to do but never got to. Rebuilding festus, rebuilding the Argo 2, putting up shop with calypso. That's what was off. Leo didn't get to finish his bucket list.

In the end, there were no more tears frank could have cried. He was dry. All out of tears. The service for leo was perfect and looked wonderful. There was only one thing that could make it better. Leo. He was what made everyone happy in times of grief. He was pretty sure they would have cremated him, but, you know, even in death fire didn't burn him. The kid was a freaking miracle. Was. Not anymore. He couldn't creat any more. In that casket, Leo's hands remained still. No more energy to fill them. That was wrong. The hyperactive kid was freaking vibrating whenever he was alive. But now, leo had no more movements left to make.

They had joked on the Argo 2 about how the only time they would see leo sit still was when he was dead. It seemed funny then, and leo told the joke. Yeah, that didn't help anything. Jason could only sit there and watch as Reyna, who only just realized that what leo did was unintentional, read off something to memorize in time of death. Especially Leo's death. In the mist of of death, there is one to get life. Leo died so more could live. So no one had to fight. Our lives are built off of the success of the dead. Leo had found Archimedes last scrolls and works. And the Argo's engine was a new type completely that all Hephestus and Vulcan kids marveled at. It was a new piece of technology that was far to advanced for its time. The engine had no catalyst. How fitting. Leo's death had been the inhibitor of war, just as his machine used an inhibitor to move.

Her mother once told her that all is fair in love and war. How did this fit? Calypso waited and waited for thousands of years for a hero who had the guts to defy the gods and save her. Now that she had finally found that, it was almost instantly taken away from her. All of this for war. One of the things her mother said she loved. Only then did piper wonder if her mother actually had anyone close to her die because of war. Probably not. Most of her time before the ceremony was consoling calypso who had had cried for days, telling piper of how stupid she was. Telling her how she didn't get to say goodbye. Crying because she never told him that she loved him.

Percy was never really close to the boy, but in the end, leo had built a bridge between the two. Percy considered himself an impenetrable force who strived on luck of the draw and a somewhat level head. Leo, however, was the one to whip such insolence from his mind. Percy wasn't a fortress. Leo brought that out. Percy wasn't a grown man. Leo saw his childish side. Percy was afraid of losing what was precious. Leo taught him about a metaphorical mask. Leo had brought his mind forth naked before his eyes, only for him to teach him how to bury it deeper. Now the only thing Percy was burying was leo.

Annabeth knew leo was smart. She admired that about him. He never really showed what was true, and deep down annabeth saw this. One night, Leo's smile cracked at dinner. No one saw this but her. Leo had excused himself from the room and headed down to the engine room. He hadn't even started to eat. Annabeth, out of curiosity, headed after him half way through dinner. Upon arriving at the door she heard clangs of metal on metal. Slowly she opened the door just a crack. There stood leo. Bashing a random piece of metal against a wall. On his face was the apparent look of anger and hate. After he had finished, he leaned up against the wall and slid to the floor slowly, placed his head in his hands and cried. Annabeth was about to leave when he look up and caught her eye. He looked so sad. So broken. Looking back on the incident, she regretted closing the door on him.

Nike sat in the corner of the room, out of the way of the actual funeral. Why was she here? Well, she had made an unlikely friend in him. when they had captured her, Leo had visited her every day and talked with her. Even after she told him what he needed to know. He had fed her, even though there was no possible way for her to starve. She might have been the most comfortable hostage in history. She even had a makeshift bed. Who does this? Who is this nice to a person who had for told there death? No one human. In the end, she was cut free, but she stayed next to him in the fight of the Giants. He shot the ballista while she flung all of his greek Fire over the side. A nice little prank to play on her friend, who at the time was laughing and shouting at her. In all her immortal life, Nike had never really made any friends. She just didn't have time to. You know, being victorious and all. But when they hung him, she regretted. This didn't count as a victory. This counted as madness.

After the funeral, they went to bury there dear friend. This was one of the only times it had rained at camp half blood. Actually, it was the only time. It took several hours for the graveyard to be left. But the last people to leave was his friends. Each of them had read his tombstone over and over again. The message was beautiful and would always hold meaning in there hearts.

On the tombstone it read, ' here lies hope. Hope for a better future. Hope for friendship. Hope for unity through the people. here lies proof that not all die in vain. Our lives are built on those of the dead. Build on this death, for one day, we will all be here, hoping, praying, and begging for a better tomorrow.'


End file.
